“Replete with kitchen wenches, mistaken identities and courtship, The Comedy of Errors is wonderful addition to the 2011 Colorado Shakespeare Festival season.”

The Comedy of Errors
by William Shakespeare

directed by Carolyn Howarth and Daniel Stein

One of Shakespeare’s earliest plays, and most popular comedies, The Comedy of Errors is a farce of mistaken identities, taking place in the course of one whirlwind day. Featuring two sets of twins separated at birth, the play is ripe with slapstick humor and fantastic coincidences. Presented in a highly engaging physical style, this period production is the perfect introduction to Shakespeare for children and adults alike.

July 7, 8:00pm – Preview Performance

July 9, 8:00pm – Opening Night

July 10, 6:30pm; July 13, 6:30pm; July 14, 8:00pm; July 17, 6:30pm; July 22, 8:00pm; July 23, 8:00pm; July 30, 8:00pm

August 2, 6:30pm; August 6, 8:00pm; August 7, 6:30pm; August 10, 6:30; August 11, 8:00pm

The Colorado Shakespeare Festival, under the direction of Producing Artistic Director Phillip Sneed, in his fifth season with CSF, is off to an uproarious start. The Comedy of Errors works beautifully in the University of Colorado’s outdoor Mary Rippon Theatre, with a newly installed audio system. (The theater’s acoustics pre-technology battled road noise and fireworks from the neighbouring Hill. While not the Globe, Mary Rippon nestled between academic buildings on the CU campus, is perfect for plays from Shakespeare to Antoine de Saint-Exupéry)

As Shakespeare’s shortest play unfolds, we witness the ensuing confusion when twin brothers (Antipholus, both by the same name) are mistaken for one another by their wives, mistresses, and even their jailed father (Egeon). To add to the Night of Errors, the bothers also have twin servants (Dromio, again by the very same name and who share the same flare for 1590’s period costumes).

Phillip Sneed has adapted Shakespeare’s The Comedy of Errors with modern references that appear out of the pages of Vogue or US Weekly or would aptly be portrayed in an SNL skit. While Shakespeare and Phillip Sneed may prefer comparison to the New York Review of Books or the New Yorker, the twin Antipholus and Dromio’s absurdity, humour and wit engage the Mary Rippon audience with their political and social satire.

Replete with kitchen wenches, mistaken identities and courtship The Comedy of Errors is a wonderful addition to the 2011 Colorado Shakespeare Festival season. The Comedy of Errors, Romeo and Juliet, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s Little Prince, and The Inspector General are performed at the University of Colorado at Boulder’s Mary Rippon Outdoor Theatre this summer season, through 14th August 2011.

Reserve your seats for The Colorado Shakespeare Festival:Box Office Or by calling,+1 303-492-0554

Postscript: I first saw Shakespeare’s The Comedy of Errors at Lincoln Center in New York where the Bard’s play was staged by Bob Woodruff and The Flying Karamazov Brothers juggled their lines.

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About Jeffrey Woodruff

Jeffrey is a competitive cross country skier and marathon runner. He has completed sixteen marathons in six countries. Jeffrey recently received his Master of Architecture at the University of Colorado Denver.